Secret Weakness
by jellybean367
Summary: Someone wants to make Gibbs suffer, and is using Tony to achieve it.
1. Day Before

__

**Disclaimer**: These are not my characters, I am only having my fun with them.

Hey everyone. This is my first fanfic, so bare with me. Hope everyone enjoys it. Please review, it's greatly appreciated.

**Secret Weakness**

'Yes' Tony thought while grabbing his cell and hitting Gibbs speed dial. The team had been working on a case all week with no leads, and he had finally found one.

The case was a murder of 2 marines found in their hotel. They had only found 3 different prints, 2 belonging to the marines and 1 unidentifiable. So far they only had one suspect and he had given a backed up alibi, so he was trying to find a flaw in it. Along with that, they still hadn't been able to get the bodies for Ducky to do a autopsy. They were suppose to get them that day but it had been move a day ahead, yet again.

"Gibbs" Gibbs said as he answered his phone.

"Boss, I found a flaw in Barrison's alibi, he really did go to Georgio's Bar Tuesday night, but he didn't stay there as long as he said."

"When did he leave" Asked Gibbs

"10:45, enough time to get to the apartment."

"Bring him in"

"On it boss" Tony replied before Gibbs could hang up on him, and knowing that when Gibbs said bring him in he really meant '-interrogate him, see if he'll saw something different from last time' Picking up the phone again, he called McGee, "Come on McGee, were going to bring Barrison back in" he said as he grabbed his coat, 'we're finally going get to him, finally' he thought heading toward his car.

**NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS **

Gibbs sat in the interrogation room, staring Barrison down, he wanted to know the truth and he had a gut feeling that Barrison knew what happened.

"Here's what I think happened, you left the bar early, then you went to the apartment and you took a Gun and killed Todd Marcela and Zack Thompson. They were your friends, weren't they? You went through training together, they made it through, and you didn't. You were jealous, so you decided to get pay-back for them being better than you are." Gibbs said, watching the expression of Barrison's face change.

"No, I didn't kill them. I was at the bar when it happened." Barrison said, with his eyes closed. He opened them again, looking straight at Gibbs. "I went through this before."

Gibbs ignored the last statement. "When did you leave?"

"Well, um, around 1:00am" Barrison said, thinking about the answer.

"Really?" Gibbs knew he had caught him in a lie, and he was about to expose it. "3 days ago you said you at 2:00am."

"I did?" Gibbs nodded. "Well it was while ago, I just forgot, it probably was 2:00." Barrison tried to say it as confidently as possible, but Gibbs could tell he knew he had been caught in a lie.

Gibbs took out some photos Tony had found earlier that morning out of a folder in front of him, and slid them over to Barrison. "If you left so late, then tell me what these are."

"I don't know what they are, what are they?"

"Those are photos from a street security camera, showing you leaving the bar at 10:45. A little earlier than 2:00am." When Barrison didn't say anything Gibbs continued. "Where did you go, and why were you hiding it?"

"I want a lawyer" Barrison said, in as strong of voice he could manage.

Gibbs stood up and put his hands on the table, leaning toward Barrison with his face close to the other mans, "Just answer the question, if you're innocent, then you have nothing to worry about"

Barrison looked defeated; it was quite frightening to have someone like Gibbs that close to your face. "I was just... I didn't..." Barrison sighed, lowering his head to his chest, he took a few breathes then raised his head, frowning. "I left the bar early, but I didn't kill Todd and Zack, but I know who might have. I went to a warehouse, to pay a guy so he would get off my back. When I got there, the guy was talking to someone else, I didn't catch everything they said, but I got enough to know that this other guy wanted a couple people dead, and he was paying big to get it. I got the address where the people were, and it was Todd's and Zack's Hotel building."

Gibbs was getting mad, he hated it when people were so stupid to keep something like this to themselves.

"I want name of these people and where the warehouse is, and ANYTHING else you know, NOW"

~~**~~

Gibbs left the interrogation room with the information he needed, he finally had a good lead, and all he had to do now is to find a guy by the name of Joseph Caller. He went down to his desk and sat down at the computer. "McGee, find out what Joseph Caller's address is."

"Already have it boss." Gibbs raised his eyebrow, wondering how they were ahead of him. "We were listening to the interrogation boss, thought we would get a head start."

"Good, get your gear, we're going to go talk to him." Gibbs said, as he grabbed his gear and headed toward the elevator.

"Hey, I'm the one who found it." Tony said, standing by his desk watching everyone.

Gibbs didn't even look back when Tony spoke, "Coming DiNozzo?"

"On your six boss." Tony ran to catch up, hardly making it as the doors closed, he grinned to himself as the elevator started moving. "Are we going to bring him in?"

Gibbs looked over at Tony for a second, then back at the door. "We can't till we have a good enough reason, so keep your cool." He said, as the doors opened again.****

~~**~~

Tony looked at the house they pulled in front of; it was a large light blue house with dark blue trim. The blinders on the windows were shut so you couldn't look inside. "His car is in the drive-way, so he should be home."

"Let's hope he is"

The team got out of the car and slowly started up the sidewalk.

"Ziva, DiNozzo, take the back"

Once Tony and Ziva made it to the back Gibbs knocked on the door, when nobody come to the door after a couple minutes Gibbs decided he had enough. Just before he was able to kick it in the door, a man opened the door.

"Sorry about that, I was just getting out of the shower." He looked at McGee, then Gibbs. "Can I help you?"

"Are you Joseph Caller?" Gibbs ask him.

"Yes"

Gibbs held up his badge, "NCIS, we have a few questions to ask you"

Joseph looked back and forth between Gibbs and McGee a few times then back at Gibbs. "Sure come in." Once Gibbs and McGee came into the house Joseph asked "Do you guys want anything to drink?" Joseph walked toward the kitchen on the other side of the room.

"No thank you" Before Gibbs could say anything else, Joseph ran into the other room, closing the door behind him intending to exit the house through the kitchen door. Gibbs ran after him, speaking in his microphone. "DiNozzo, Ziva, he's heading your way!"

As Gibbs was knocking down the door between the living room and the kitchen he heard 3 gunshots. He busted the door down and ran though the other door leading to the outside to see Ziva running toward them. "What happened?"

Ziva looked at Gibbs, "He had a gun in his back pocket, he came out and shot at Tony, I ran after him, but I lost him around the house, he must have a hidden door somewhere."

Gibbs looked back at Tony who looked suddenly pale, "Tony, you were wearing your vest, right."

"Of course," Tony said, looking at Gibbs, he had a pain in his side where he felt a bullet hit his side, his vision was getting fuzzy and he was starting to see dots. "But I think one got me," Tony managed to say, as he collapsed and before darkness consumed him.


	2. Revenge

"TONY!" Gibbs cried as he saw his senior agent fall. He should have looked at him better when he came out. He ran over to him and put his fingers to his neck. 'Thank God' he thought, he had a pulse. "Ziva, call an ambulance."

"Is he OK?" McGee asked kneeling down beside him while Ziva pulled out her cell to call the ambulance.

"I don't know."

"He's bleeding on his side," McGee pulled Tony's shirt up to reveal a bloody hole. "Why didn't his vest protect him?"

"It probably went in at an angle, went into his side, where the vest doesn't protect."

Gibbs placed his hands on the bloody wound, pressing down, causing Tony to moan slightly. "Where's that ambulance?" he yelled looking at Ziva.

"They said they're a couple minutes away." Ziva bent down at Tony's head and put his head in her lap. You could hardly see Tony breathing, and he was losing a lot of blood. "Gibbs, he'll be OK, won't he?"

"Of course he will." Gibbs looked down at his hands, which was covered in his senior's agent's blood. It was something that he never wanted to see. He could hear the siren of the ambulance coming closer, and wished it to go faster. "McGee, go make sure the ambulance gets back here."

"Got it boss." McGee got up and ran to the front of the house where the ambulance was pulling in the driveway.

Gibbs looked at Tony's face; it was pale, an unhealthy pale, almost as if he was dead. 'Come on Tony, you can get through this.' He thought as the MT's were rushing toward them.

"What have we got?" One of the MT's asked, bending down on the other side of Tony.

"He was shot, on his side" Gibbs told him, while another MT bent down beside him.

"Here" The MT beside him put his hands on Gibbs, "I got it." Gibbs took his hands away and he back up to stand at the side with Ziva and McGee. They watched as the MT's put Tony on a stretcher and quickly took him to the awaiting ambulance. "One of you can go with him to the hospital." The MT said, looking at the three agents.

"Ziva, go with him" Gibbs looked at Ziva, keeping his face neutral. "Keep me updated about his condition." Ziva got in the back of the ambulance and it quickly left, its lights flashing as it disappeared. "Let's go back to the office, see where Caller might have gone."

"Boss, he has a Chevy Cobalt, it has ON STAR, I should be able to track it."

"Good, let's go."

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Once they got to the office, McGee quickly got on his computer to start tracing Caller's car. He had all the information he needed, so it should be pretty easy. Gibbs walked by his own desk to put his gear down.

"Call Abby, she'll want to know what happened" Gibbs walked away, going to get his usual cup of coffee.

McGee called up Abby, knowing she would be upset. He knew that Abby and Tony had a brother/sister relationship. On the second ring Abby picked up, perky as ever.

"Abby, Gibbs wanted me to call."

"Uh oh, what's wrong?" She asked, in her fake worried voice.

"Tony's in the hospital, he's been shot."

"WHAT? Is he OK? Did you get the guy who shot him? Is someone with him at the hospital? Someone should be with him. Maybe Gibbs will let me go to the hospital to be with him... Does Ducky know? He'll want to know."

"ABBY!" Abby stopped her rambling, letting McGee continue. "I don't know yet if he's alright, he's lost a lot of blood. No the guy who shot him got away. Ziva's at the hospital, she'll keep us updated. And no, Ducky doesn't know yet, we just got back.

"We have to find this guy." Abby's voice was unusually quiet, so McGee answered her quickly.

"Don't worry, we'll get him. I'm trying to track his car now." Abby didn't say anything which shocked him, he thought she would be jumping up wanting to help. "Don't worry Abbs, Tony will be alright, he's a tough guy."

"He better be, or he'll have to deal with me." McGee laughed quietly; she was back to her old self.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Ziva sat in the waiting room. Tony had been rushed into surgery the moment they got to the hospital. She had not heard anything since then and was getting worried. It had been 2 hours since Tony had been shot. Shot because of her.

She yelled at herself for not reacting sooner then she had. She had talking with Tony when Caller had burst through the door and caught them off guard. If only she had moved faster, maybe Tony wouldn't have been shot.

"Are you Agent David?" A voice said. Ziva turned to see a nurse beside her.

"Yes, how is Tony?"

"We managed to stop the bleeding, it went in at an angle, and luckily the bullet missed all the vital organs. We moved him up to recovery, you'll be able to go in and sit with him." The nurse led her to Tony's room and then quickly shuffled down the hall. Ziva walked into the room to see Tony lying in a bed sleeping, his breathing light. Ziva sat on the chair next to the bed, her eyes never leaving Tony. 'You better be OK Tony, you better be OK.' She thought, listening to Tony breath.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Caller sat on a bench in front of the hospital. He had driven his car about 15 miles away from his house and parked it on the side of the road, and had hitched a ride to the hospital from there. He was in a great mood. His plan to kill 2 marines to lure Gibbs in had worked better than he planned. He had a hidden camera on the side of his house that had caught what had happened when he escaped. It captured when agent DiNozzo had collapsed and more importantly, Gibbs expression when it happened. His original plan was to just get Gibbs alone and kill him, but now he had a better plan. Gibbs expression when DiNozzo collapsed told him he cared for the man, which meant he could play with those feelings and torment him. He was going to make Gibbs suffer, and he was going to do that by having a little fun with a man named Anthony DiNozzo.


	3. Stage 1

"Boss, I found Callers car!" McGee looked over at Gibbs, smiling, it had taken a little time, but he had found the car, and luckily, it was currently stationary.

"Where is it then?"

"By route 39, it's not moving"

"Let go get it then, hopefully the guns still in it, then we'll go back to the house, see if we can find anything useful."

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

McGee and Gibbs stood beside each other, watching Abby typing on her computer. They had found the car, but it was bare, everything taken out of it. It had been left on the side of the road, abandoned by the look of it.

When they got to the house, they couldn't find much to help them, but right before they left, McGee saw something on the side of the house where Tony was shot. He found it to be a small camera, which they brought back. They gave it to Abby to find out what was one it, she had just asked them to come down, and found her still typing away.

"Abby, you called us down?"

"Yeah, almost done Gibbs, just one more sec... there," A video started on the big screen and they all stepped closer to watch.

"Abby, fast-forward till we see something." About ten seconds later they saw Tony and Ziva on the screen, Abby stopped fast-forwarding to resume play. They all watched as it played out what happened, on Tony's and Ziva's end. When they saw Tony collapse, Gibbs heard Abby gasp; he turned and saw her with her hand covering her mouth. He walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"He'll be OK Abbs; you know that, don't you? 

"Of course I do, it's Tony."

"Good." He turned to McGee who had been standing silently. "Let's go McGee, we have work to do." He turned and started walking to the door.

"Wait!" Abby yelled after Gibbs

"Good work Abby." Gibbs said, not stopping.

"Thanks, but that's not it." Gibbs stopped, looking back at her.

"What else do you have?"

"Well this camera not only records but at the same time send what it's recording to what looks like would be a computer."

"Is that possible?" McGee asked, wondering how someone would manage that.

"Of course it is McGee."

"You're saying that someone else could see this, without the camera?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying"

"Boss, Caller probably had a laptop, he probably had it to go there."

"Good work Abby, McGee lets go."

"Wait, Gibbs." She ran up to him looking him in his eyes, her expression changed into a frown. "Has Ziva called yet about Tony?"

"Yeah, he's in recovery"

"Can I go see him?"

Gibbs could tell she really wanted to go, "Sure, you can relive Ziva, just call when he wakes up."

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

"... And then he ripped the dog's head off with his enormous strength. There was blood everywhere and th-"

"A bit gruesome, isn't it?" Abby had been talking the last 10 minutes telling Tony a LONG story about a dog and a vampire. She didn't even notice when Tony woke up and was watching her.

"TONY!" She leaned over and gave him a hug. "You're awake! Are you OK? Do you want anything?"

"A little water please?" Tony's voice was a little weak, and he sounded tired. Once he had his fill Abby gave Him another hug, then a small smack on the arm.

"What was that for?"

"I was really worried, and if you do that ever again, you'll have to deal with me."

Tony tried not to laugh, "OK then, next time I'll try not to get hurt."

"Good." Abby said sternly, and then couldn't help but smile. She could tell Tony was having trouble staying awake. "Get some sleep; I have to call Gibbs anyway, to tell him you woke up."

She got up and gave him a peck on the check. "I'll be here when you wake up again."

"OK" Tony gave in to the battle of staying awake. Even those few minutes had worn him out. He saw Abby scurrying out the door, right before he closed his eyes and fell into a healing sleep.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Caller watched as Abby left Tony's room, getting out her cellphone as she walked down the hall. When she was out of sight he quietly slipped into Tony's room and saw the man in a deep sleep. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and an unmarked needle.

The needle contained a concoction that would act quickly and would cause the man a lot of pain. Nothing would be able to relieve the pain, so it would have to work its way out, very slowly.

Caller injected the needle's contents into Tony's IV, the placed the folded paper in Tony's hand. He slipped out of the room unnoticed, though he didn't notice when the empty needle fell out of his pocket. He smiled to himself as he left the hospital. Stage 1 was done.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Abby dialed Gibbs number, she knew he would be glad to hear that Tony woke up, even if he wouldn't show it. He would probable just say, 'good, now he can get back to work' or something like that. He never showed that he cared about his team to anyone.

"Gibbs" Gibbs answered, in his usual way.

"Gibbs, Tony woke up!"

"He OK?"

"Yeah, he's sleeping right now. I'm going to stay with him, if that's alri-"An alarm sounded and nurses began running.

"Abby, what's going on?"

"I don't know," She walked back around the corner to see the nurses running into Tony's room. She ran into the room to see the nurses trying to hold Tony's trashing body down. A nurse saw her and started pushing her out of the room.

"Ma'am, you can't be here." She said, before she went back into the room

"ABBY! Tell me what's going on!" 

"I don't know Gibbs," She looked down and happened to see a needle by the door, she reached down and picked it up, it was unlabeled so it couldn't have been the hospitals. Realization hit her and she gasp.

"ABBY!" Gibbs screamed getting angrier.

"Gibbs, I think someone just tried to kill Tony!"


	4. Note

"What?" Gibbs had gotten worried, when Abby had gotten quiet, then said that she thought someone had tried to kill Tony.

"I don't know Gibbs, I just found this needle and it doesn't have the hospitals marking, so it can't be theirs. I was only gone for a few minutes Gibbs, I don't know what happened."

"Abby, settle down, were coming in."

"Hurry Gibbs, Hurry"

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Gibbs walked into the waiting room; behind him were Ziva and McGee, and two guards that he might need for Tony's room. He wanted to be prepared and didn't want to waste time by having them drive here if the need Aries. He saw Abby pacing back and forth. When she saw him walking toward her she ran up and grabbed him into a hug.

"They won't tell me anything, make them tell us what's going on, I can't stand the wait any longer."

"Stay here; I'll go talk to someone." He turned and walked up to the front desk. Abby went to stand with Ziva and McGee and all three watched Gibbs.

Gibbs went to the counter and got the nurses attention; she had been typing on her computer. "Can I help you sir?"

"Yes, I'm Special Agent Gibbs; I want to know what's going on with my Agent, Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."

"I'm sorry; you'll have to speak with his doctor about his condition."

"Then get me his doctor."

"He's with Mr. DiNozzo right now, he'll be out in a little while, please have a seat, and he'll be with you."

"No, I'm not going to sit and wait for him, get him out here, or I'll have to get him myself."

"I'm sorry sir; you're just going to have to wait." Gibbs didn't wait to listen to her; he headed straight to Tony's room. "Sir, you can't go back there." Gibbs didn't stop so the nurse ran and caught up with him, standing in front of him. "Sir, only medical staff and Mr. DiNozzo family is allowed back there.

"Then check his records, because I'm listed as family, now please get out of my way" The nurse let him pass, not knowing what to do, and knowing that she wouldn't have been able to stop him no matter what she said.

Gibbs got to Tony's room and when he walked in he saw the doctor checking his vitals. The doctor saw him and took a step toward him. "Sir you shouldn't be back here."

"I'm his boss; tell me what's wrong with him." Gibbs looked at his agent; Tony was in what looked like a restless sleep, moving around as if trying to get away from something.

"Oh, sorry sir, I should have recognized you. Well, all I know is that some sort of toxin got into his system; we couldn't recognize it so we don't know if there's an antitoxin for it. He was in extreme pain and any pain reliever we gave him didn't seem to work, so I had to give him a sedative. Even now he's in noticeable pain, and it's stressing his heart so we are watching him closely."

"How did this happen?"

"I'm not sure, someone would to have came into his room to give it to him, there was no marks on his skin, so they had to of gave it though his IV. Oh, and he had this in his hand," He reached into his pocket to pull out the folded paper and gave it to Gibbs. Gibbs took the note and read it, then put it in his pocket and turned to leave.

"I'm posting 2 guards in front of his door; NOBODY comes into this room without authorization. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

"Good," Gibbs left the room, going down the hall to the waiting room. They were in trouble, Tony especially, and it was because of him. But he didn't know why. But he planned to find out.

Inside Gibbs pocket was the folded note, written inside was the words:

It hurts you to see someone you careabout in pain, doesn't it Gibbs?

Now you know how it feels.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Abby heard the sound of her machine beep and ran over to it. She wnet over to it, talking to it as she went. "Finally, it took you long enough. I told you, Tony's in trouble, so you have to work fast." She took the printed results from the printer and took them to her desk. "So, what's in our cocktail?" She read the results of the test and sighed. It wasn't good, not at all. It was a mixture of lot of different remedies and there was a few that the computer couldn't identify. Gibbs wasn't going to like this, not one bit, but she had to tell him. She dialed his number, thinking how she was going to tell him, deciding of fast and to the point.

"Gibbs."

"Gibbs, the results from the needle is done, it's not good."

"What is it?"

"Well, there are a lot of toxins mixed in it and there are 3 that couldn't be identified. Probably something that's new or came from outside the country. You can't make an anti toxin without knowing everything that's in it."

"How long do you think it will take to flush out of his system?"

"Well from what I know that's in it, at least 48 hours from the time it went into his system."

"You sure?"

"Almost positive, oh, and Gibbs?"

"Can I go stay with Tony a while? I can take my computer with me."

"Sure."

"Thanks Gibbs."

*****************

Gibbs hung up the phone and looked over at McGee, then Ziva. Both of them were typing at their computers, trying to find anything that could lead them to Caller.

"McGee, is that background check done yet?"

"Yeah boss, just got done. The only thing that would help us is that he's connected to a NCIS case. 6 years ago he and his friend witnessed a murder of a marine. They put them into a safe house but the killer found them and killed his friend, he almost didn't make it out of there."

"Was the killer's name Josh Bentler?"

"Yeah, how'd you know boss?"

"Because, I was on the case." Gibbs couldn't believe he didn't recognize sooner who Caller was. He remembered what happened 6 years ago, how he had messed up. He had been guarding the safe house when Josh Bentler had come in. He tried to put up a fight but got knocked out and a broken arm. When he had come too, he found out that Bentler had killed one of the witnesses and before he could kill the other, reinforcements came in to rescue the day. They never found out how he had found the safe house. And Gibbs never forgave himself for not putting up a better fight. Because of him someone was killed.

Before he could think of anything else a phone ringing interrupted his thoughts. "Gibbs" He answered.

"Jethro, I am surprised that I had to call you. You are usually the one coming to me asking what I have found."

"I was a little busy, Ducky, what have you got then?"

"Well, I finished the autopsies and the result of death was from bleeding out from the gunshot wounds, it seems our friends died slowly. There was no prints, no sign of struggle. Absolutely nothing, except for the bullets of course. It seems that they were shot from a distance, most likely so the shooter was far enough away that our friends wouldn't be able to reach out to him."

"How does this help Ducky?"

"Don't you know Jethro?"

"The bullets of course, they were made for a specific gun. On each there was a word carved in them."

"Send them up to Abby; see if she's able to get what was on them."

"Already done Jethro, she was unable to work it out due to the crushing of the bullets. But she was able to find the type of gun it was shot out of, she would have called herself but since she was otherwise occupied I told her I would call. I remember a time in France that I had to speak with a rather very angry business man for a colleague of mine. He was-"

"Duck, the type of gun?"

"Oh yes,"

Once Ducky gave Gibbs the info he hung up the phone, now he had some more to go on. He looked up at Ziva who was standing in front of his desk, waiting patiently for him to finish on the phone.

He gave her the "What?" stare, and she quickly snapped back into info mode.

"Well, I just found where Caller might have gone. He has a mother who lives near the area. He might be hiding there."

"Good, let's check it out."


	5. Missing

-------

Caller walked into the hospital for a second time, this time entering from the back of the hospital. It was time the next stage of his plan was put into play. But first he needed to get Tony in a more private place. That meant that Tony had to go for a little ride. He had come prepared for Tony's room to be guarded, which might be a problem, but he had come prepared. He had brought a gun loaded with tranquilizers instead of bullets. He didn't want to kill anybody.... Yet. He was dressed as a nurse, slipping past people unnoticed and started down the hallway to Tony's room. Luckily for him, Tony was the only one in this particular hallway, making his job easier. And to sweeten the pot, at the end of the hallway was an emergency exit, going to the back parking lot, where his van was parked.

As he approached Tony's room a nurse stepped out, nodding to the guard. He grabbed her putting the gun to her side. He looked at the guard, who had his gun pointing at him, ready to take action. "Don't think about it buddy, you make a move and I shoot her. Put the gun down." The guard didn't move so he pressed the gun in deeper, the nurse whimpered, feeling the gun press in her ribs. "I said put it down." The guard hesitated then put the gun on the floor. "Kick it to me." The guard kicked it and it stopped at his feet, he bent down slowly and grabbed it, wrapping his arm around the nurse so she wouldn't go anywhere. "Now go into Mr. DiNozzo's room" The guard entered the room and he followed, keeping his eyes on him. "Now help me get him down the hall through the emergency exit, quickly so no one notices." When the guard didn't move he dug his gun deeper into the nurse causing her to cry out. "NOW" he yelled. The guard went over to Tony and started unhooking the wires connected to Tony with shaking hands.

"Come on, faster. Put him over your shoulders, and start down the hall, and go fast. You don't want this nurse here to get hurt." The guard did as he was told, and all of them went down the hall without being seen. 'I must be very lucky' Caller thought, wondering how he managed to get in and out of the hospital without being caught so far. "Put him in that van, it's unlocked."

The guard put Tony into the back the black van pointed out to him and stepped back, looking at the man who was holding the scared nurse with a gun at her side. "Thank you for your help, I would love to stay longer, but I have things to do." Caller pushed the nurse into the guard then shot him with his gun, both crumpled to the ground unconscious, a tranquilizer needle in each of them.

He shut the door to his van and climbed into the driver's seat. He smiled to himself; this was all going better than he planned.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Abby walked down the hall carrying a Caf-Pow and her laptop but stopped as she turned into the hallway leading to Tony's room and noticed that guard wasn't there. She ran down the hall and into the doorway and almost dropped the items in her hands. She ran back out the door and screamed down the hall to a passing doctor. "GET SECURITY!"

She put down her things and pulled out her cellphone, dialing Gibbs number.

"Gibbs" 

"Gibbs, Tony's gone!"

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Pain all he felt was pain. Tony ought the darkness that surrounded him. He didn't know why he felt this way. He remembered that he had been shot, and that he woke up in the hospital with Abby with him, he didn't feel like this then. Something else must have happened he thought.

He forced his eyes open, looking around him; he noticed that he wasn't in a hospital anymore, but in a small space. He noticed that it was moving, a vehicle of some kind, he thought, wishing he could think straighter. He felt the movement stop and heard a door slam. Then the door beside him opened and a face bent down to his.

"You're awake Tony DiNozzo." It said putting a hand on his shoulder. "That means I'm able to warn you, I'm going to make you suffer Tony." Tony struggled to get up but the hand on his shoulder keeps him down. He realized he probably wouldn't have got up anyway, he felt so weak. He heard the voice continue, "If you're wondering why you're going to suffer, I'll tell you, it's because of your boss, Jethro Gibbs. Because of him I watched my best friend die, and I'm going to make him watch your die, very slowly."

Tony felt himself begin to move as he was dragged out of the van. He tried to move, to try to do anything but he was too weak. He was in a load of trouble and he couldn't do anything. The last thing that went through his mind before darkness consumed him again was that Gibbs was going to be mad that he wasn't in the hospital anymore.


	6. Stage 2

Gibbs, McGee and Ziva went up to the front door of a small white house and knocked on the front door. A small older lady answered. "Can I help you?" she asked looking at all three of them.

"Are you Mrs. Caller?" Gibbs asked her.

"Yes."

"Can you tell us where your son is?" 

"You just missed him; he was here just an hour ago. Why? Is there something wrong?" 

"We just need to ask him a few questions." Gibbs didn't want to frighten the lady by telling her the truth. He knew how protective parents could be, even if their kid committed a crime.

"Do you want to come in; it's a bit chilly out there." Mrs. Caller asked, even though it was a warm day.

"No, that's quite fine." Gibbs took out his notebook and wrote his number on it and gave it to the woman. "Can you call me when comes back?"

"Sure."

"Have a good day ma'am." Gibbs said, she said goodbye and closed the door. The three started for the car. They now knew that Caller had gone to his mother's house, and there was a good chance he would come back, now they could be ready for him. Gibbs wasn't going to wait till Mrs. Caller called him, he would be watching. He also knew that they wouldn't have gotten anything from Mrs. Caller with questions. His gut was telling him that something was wrong, and that they would be getting a lead somehow. But by the twist in his gut, he did suspect it to be in a good way.

As he reached to the car door his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Abby. Knowing that she was with Tony he answered her quickly, he remembered just yesterday she had called when she was with him, that didn't turn out so well.

"Gibbs."

"Gibbs, Tony's gone!"

"What do you mean he's missing?"

"He's not here, the guards gone too!"

"Have you called security?"

"Of course. Gibbs, why would he take Tony?"

Gibbs didn't answer her question, knowing the answer was because of him, but not wanting to tell Abby that. "We'll be there soon, wait for us to get there."

Gibbs hung up the phone, and looked at McGee and Ziva who was watching him. "Caller took Tony."

"What? How, there was a guard on his room wasn't there?" McGee looked stunned, his eyes huge as they looked at Gibbs.

"Of course there was McGee; we'll have to figure out how he did it." Gibbs got into the car, McGee and Ziva did the same and they sped down the road toward the hospital.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

The first thing Tony noticed was the cold. It felt like he was outside without a coat on in the middle of winter. The second thing was the pain; he remembered feeling it earlier and was relieved that it wasn't nearly as bad as last time.

His senses continued to come to him, and as they did he took note about his surroundings. He was sitting in a chair, his hands tied to the arms, his feet tied to the legs, and a rope around his chest. He looked around and saw that he was in some sort of warehouse or shed.

Tony tried to get his hands free but they were too tightly secured and he was too weak to give his full strength into trying. He knew that he was stuck here until he was found. 'Come on Gibbs, I'm waiting for you." He wished silently. Knowing that Gibbs had to be looking for him, Tony felt the pull of the darkness and he let himself drift off to it, hoping that he would be home when he woke again.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Gibbs got to the hospital and he ran in, heading straight to Tony's room and ignoring the nurse at the front desk who yelled after him. Behind him were McGee and Ziva, right on his tail. Once they reached the hallway to Tony's room Gibbs saw the situation. The guard that he had posted on Tony's room, along with a nurse that was sitting on separate gurney, being checked over. He then saw Abby, a security guard talking with her, and Abby did not look happy. She saw him and ran over to him, obvious relieve on her face.

"I'm so happy you're here Gibbs, These people are useless. They keep asking me the same questions to which I have NO answers. I mean how could I know what happened to Tony when I got here AFTER he was gone. On top of that, they won't let me do anything but wait here. I should be doing something that would help find him."

"Abby." Gibbs grabbed Abby's shoulders, stopping her rambling. "You have to settle down, breath."

Abby took a deep breath, calming herself. She looked over at McGee and Ziva who were watching the two of them. She knew that they were anxious to find Tony as much as she was. She had to keep calm that was the key, stay calm and you can work faster. She turned back to Gibbs, "Gibbs, you have to find him."

"We will Abby."

"You better."

"Are you Agent Gibbs?" The security that was talking with Abby interrupted.

"Yeah."

"We would like to offer our help in any way we can to help find Mr. DiNozzo."

"Agent DiNozzo." Gibbs corrected automatically. "Good, you can start by telling me what the hell went on and how someone managed to get past my guard and take my agent."

"Well sir, we don't know what exactly went on. We found the guard and a nurse in the back parking lot, both with a tranquilizer dart in them. They just woke up a couple minutes ago. We haven't asked them yet what happened."

"Isn't there a camera around here that could have taped it?"

"Um... Yes there's one in the corner over there." He pointed to a small camera on the ceiling.

"Get me the tape of it, and if there is one from the parking lot, get me that one too." Gibbs ordered the security guard, knowing that he was eager to help in any way.

"Yes sir, right away," the guard said scurrying off to do his appointed task.

Gibbs looked back at his team, who was ready to get to work. "McGee, go to the parking lot, see if you can find anything. Ziva, your with me, were going to see what the guard has to say. And Abby, you can go back to the office, we'll call you if we need anything." 

"OK, but Gibbs, if you find out anything, ANYTHING, call me, OK?" 

"I will Abbs." Once she was down the hall he looked back at McGee and Ziva who were still standing there. "Let's get to work."

"On it boss." McGee said, heading to the back door.

Gibbs and Ziva made their way to the guard sitting on the gurney with his face in his hands.

"Stevens, isn't it?" Gibbs asked standing in front of him.

The guard looked up and saw Gibbs and Ziva in front of him, he straighten up as much he could. "Yes sir."

"Tell me what happened." 

"Well, he grabbed the nurse and threatened to shoot her if I didn't put down my gun, and then he told me to carry Agent DiNozzo and put him in his van. I couldn't do anything since he was using the nurse as a shield. And I didn't know that he didn't have bullets in his gun. I just didn't know what to do. I'm sorry sir."

"Did you see the license plate on the van?" Ziva asked, thinking that if he did they might be able to locate it faster.

"No, I never was around back of it."

"What did the van look like?"

"It was all white, no windows. It was very clean, looked new. I couldn't tell the type of it."

"Is there anything that you can tell us that could help us?" Gibbs asked, wanted the man to tell him everything he knew, and then some.

"I... I'm not sure...."

"Think, think real hard."

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Tony woke up to a door slamming. He forced his eyes open to see that he wasn't home yet. He sighed; hey it didn't hurt wishing. He looked up to see a man coming toward him. He saw the man put a few items on a table; he looked closer to see that a video camera was one of them. 'Great' he thought 'must be planning to take what coming to me' the man looked over and saw Tony watching him; he went over to him and bent down to look directly in his face.

"Well Tony DiNozzo, I see you're awake again. That's good, because that means I don't have to wake you. I'm just about to get started with the second stage of my plan." He walked back over and continued what he was doing. "I just need to get this camera going."

"Who are you? What's the second stage?" Tony asked, the man's words just getting to him.

"OH, you already know me; I'm the one who shot you. And you don't need to worry about the other thing, just my own little list I'm making... There, all ready."

"Caller, you're Caller" Tony said staring up at him.

"Yes," Caller answered pressing a button on the camera. He walked over to Tony and punched him in the face. Tony grimaced from the unexpected pain. "Feel free to show any pain you feel. You should know it should touch Gibbs heart to see it." Caller whispered into Tony's ear, before continuing to beat the man.

*************

Caller left the shed, leaving Tony unconscious in his chair. He had the tape of his session with him and he was going to send it to Gibbs. He smiled to himself when he imagined the look on his face when he saw it. Stage 2 was finally done.


	7. Stage 3

Gibbs sat at his desk, wishing he had more to go on. The guard didn't have much to help them and the tape that had recorded the whole event had been useless. The recording from in the parking lot hadn't given them a good view of the van. So they couldn't check the license plate. So at the moment they officially had nothing that would help them find Tony. It hurt him not being able to do anything more. He cared for Tony, more than just CO-worker to CO-worker, more than just friend to friend; he was almost like a son that Gibbs never had. He didn't show his feeling to Tony; he could never let his feelings show, so he did his best to hide them from everyone.

A beeping from his computer interrupted his thoughts; he looked over to it to see that he had a new mail. The sender was from an unknown, and in the subject box was a single word, 'Tony.' "I got a message from Caller."

"What? What is it?" Ziva looked up surprised, looking over at Gibbs.

"I don't know yet, I haven't opened it yet. McGee, put it up on the big screen."

McGee walked over to Gibbs computer and started to type on his computer "just a sec, there." He said and a picture of Tony tied to a chair flickered on the big Screen. "Do you want me to start it?"

"Yes I do McGee, otherwise I wouldn't have asked you to put it up there." Gibbs snapped at McGee.

The screen came to life and the tree of them watched as Caller went over to Tony and hit him hard in the face. He whispered something in his ear then continued to beat him. Gibbs could tell Tony was holding back the pain of being hit so hard. Caller continued to beat him on the face and chest, he kicked him on his legs and everywhere he could. For the next 7 minutes they watch as Tony was hit over and over again. Tony's body went slack as he lost consciousness and Caller threw him one more punch in the stomach. Tony was already starting to turn back and blue from his numerous bruising he had sustained. Caller turned to the camera smiling, "So, how does it feel Gibbs?" he asked, and then the screen went black.

All three stared at the back screen, horrified at what they had just seen. "Find a way to find this bastard, NOW!" Gibbs yelled walking away and not gibing a chance McGee and Ziva to say anything.

Tony slowly woke from his unconscious state, he was cold, and he could tell he was shivering slightly from it. He was uncomfortable in the chair too but when he tried to shift all the pain came to him in an instant. He cried out as sharp pain pierced in his chest, then all over. His breathing came out in harsh gasps as he tried to calm down. After a few minutes when his breathing was back to normal, he opened his eyes to see Caller sitting a few feet away from him watching him.

"Welcome back Tony, how are you feeling?"

"Just peachy thanks."

"Well that's just wonderful, because it's only going to get more fun."

"Great." Tony muttered, sarcastically.

"I'm glad you're so thrilled, I am." Caller got up and walked over to the table, looking at the items that were on to, "So for our next round of fun, do you want the bat or key whip?" He asked, holding up a bat and a whip with keys at the end. When Tony didn't answer Caller continued, "OK we'll take it slow, and use the bat first. Though, it will be sad because it won't be as long as last time." Caller smiled, he turned the camera on and walked over to Tony, "I'll try to be gentle... maybe." Caller swung the bat and hit Tony in the chest.

Tony couldn't help crying out as the swing took his breath away. "Do you enjoy this?" he gasped before Caller could swing at him again.

"Hurting you? No, but hurting your boss, yes I do. Like they always say, Revenge is a bitch."

"Well, and don't get me wrong, I'll gladly take a beating if it meant Gibbs didn't have to, but how is beating the crap out of me suppose to hurt my boss? I would think that you would rather have him here instead of me."

Caller swung the bat, hitting Tony in the shoulder; Tony bit back a moan as a sharp pain radiated down his whole arm. "But I am hurting him, through you. If he sees you being hurt, that will hurt him. I know for a fact that it hurt to see someone you care about being tortured, and then slowly die before my eyes, and I know that it will hurt him." Caller swung again, hitting Tony in the stomach, causing Tony to cry out, and knowing that it aggravated his previous injury from the gunshot wound.

"OK." Tony said gasping for breath; he knew that his hold on the conscious world was dwindling fast. "Explain to me why it would hurt Gibbs to see me hurt."

"Don't you know that he cares for you? It was quite obvious form the look on his face when you collapsed from being shot, it was quite nice, and I got it all on tape."

"He was probably worried that I would die owing him money." He grinned as Caller struck him on his legs.

"You know, I think we've spoken enough. I think it's time for lights out for Tony." He said as he hit Tony in the back of the head, with just enough force to knock him out. He smiled seeing Tony slumped over as far as his bounds would allow, unconscious. Caller walked over to the table and put the bat down then shut off the camera; he had another message for Gibbs. Stage 3 was complete.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

"Gibbs!" Abby ran over to Gibbs who was walking in carrying a Caf-Pow and slapped him on the arm. "Why didn't you tell me about the message? McGee had to tell me!"

"I didn't want you to worry Abbs."

"That's sweet, but Gibbs, you should have known that I'm already worried."

"What did you need Abby?"

"Don't be pushy." She said, grabbing the Caf-Pow and walking over her computer. "Well, McGee gave me the video, thinking that I might be able to find something, and I ran a sound test on it and guess what I found?" Abby looked at Gibbs, waiting for him to guess.

"What did you find Abby, I don't have all day."

"Well, listen for yourself." She clicked her mouse and he heard what sounded like a plane going over a building.

"It's a plane, and there is a couple throughout the tape. My guess is that it was recorded near an airport."

"Good work Abbs." Gibbs said starting to leave.

"Gibbs, wait." He turned back to see that Abby's expression had changed to a sad one. "The video, where Caller whispers something to Tony, I was able to pick it up."

"What was it?" he said 'Feel free to show any pain you feel, it should touch Gibbs heart to see it' Gibbs you have to find Tony, you have to find him for me."

Gibbs grabbed Abby in a hug, soothing her, "We will Abby, **_I _**will find him for you."

**NCISNCIS**

Gibbs sat down at his desk; he had something, finally. "Ziva, McGee, look for all the airports around the surrounding areas." He ordered both of them starting their task, not asking questions. He turned to his computer seeing that he had a new Email. It was from an UNKOWN and the subject was TONY, same as last time. 'Caller' he thought, clicking on it. "I have another message from Caller."

As the same as last time all three of them watched as the video played out. Only this time it had dialogue. Gibbs was slightly shocked when Tony didn't get that he cared for him. He knew that he didn't show his feelings but he surly thought that Tony knew that he cared for him, even the slightest bit.

The video lasted only 4 minutes this time, and the moment it was over Gibbs headed back to his seat, "Get those airports he ordered, picking up the phone. He dialed Abby's number, knowing that she would be angry if she wasn't told, but also wanting to see if she could find anything useful on the new tape. 'Hold on Tony, we'll find you.' He thought as the phone rang.


	8. Chance

Swirls of back spun around Tony, It was like a black hole of nothingness. Ahead of him was lightness, and he somehow knew that if he went to it, he would wake up from this place. Behind him was a darker world then the one he was in now, with Erie arms of blackness reaching out to him. He felt himself being pulled toward the light and into the world of the living. He tried to go back, into the strangely middle darkness, but the pull was too strong and as he got closer his thoughts became clearer and he started to feel the pain of his many bruises come to greet him.

He remembered his conversation with Caller during his last beating; he didn't really understand what Caller meant when he said Gibbs would care what was happening with him. Yeah, Tony knew that Gibbs cared a _little_ bit, but what he was suggesting, he never would have thought that much. He cared about Gibbs though. What he said about taking a beating for him was true. He looked up to Gibbs, he was almost like a father to him, since his own father disowned him, and Gibbs took his place.

Tony slowly opened his eyes, grimacing as he noticed one seemed to be slightly swollen shut. He looked around the room to find that he was thankfully alone. He shifted in the chair, trying to ease the pain that radiated throughout his whole body, but stopped as the pain suddenly intensified at his sudden movements. He couldn't help the small yelp that escaped his lips and he cursed silently, he should have known that moving would probable be a bad idea. He quickly took note at what condition he was in, taking in his injuries that best he could. From what he could tell, he definitely had a few crack ribs and the stitches in his side form his previous injury seemed to have come out and the wound seeping slightly, guessing from the slight wetness he felt. That could be bad, if he got an infection, that is if he didn't have one already. If he had the choice right now, he would actually choose to be in a hospital, which was odd for him since he hated the place. He hated lying in bed not able to do anything; it made him feel like he was weak, useless.

His mind wandered, not being able to keep a certain thought. He wondered how long he had been stuck here, a day, two days? Where was Gibbs? He expected him to have busted in here already, saving the day.

'Please hurry Gibbs, I don't know how much longer I can hold on' He thought as he felt the pull of the swirling darkness come to take him once more.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

"Where are those airports? Gibbs asked. Even though it had only been about 15 minutes, he was already getting impatient.

"Yeah, um... There are 2 airports and 4 private ones in a 60 miles radius of the area." McGee answered quickly, knowing Gibbs would want him to be as quick as possible. "It's impossible to know which one he would be near, there would be a couple mile radius around each airport that he could be that he would hear the planes so well landing and taking off. We need more information." McGee explained as Ziva come walking in as he said the last statement.

"Abby reviewed the latest tape, she didn't find anything useful in locating him," Ziva sighed sitting down at her desk, "This is like finding a needle in a stack of needles."

"Haystack." McGee corrected automatically.

"That too."

"Find a way to find Caller." Gibbs ordered as he got up and walked out of the office. He was starting to get very impatient. They should have found him by now. Tony should be back sitting at his desk, being his usual cherry self. Gibbs knew he was running out of time. He needed to find him, and he needed to find him now.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Caller walked into the warehouse, and saw that Tony was unconscious. He grabbed a water bottle that was sitting on the table near Tony and poured some on Tony's face, causing the man to stir. He bent down and slapped him on the face, not trying to be gentle about it. "Wakey wakey, it's time for our next round of fun." He said, watching as the man struggled to wake himself up. He was getting a fever, which he could tell by the feel of his skin. He stayed there knelling by Tony for a couple minutes, as Tony became more alert. "Well there you are, now you're awake."

Caller got up and walked over to the table. Picking up the whip he had shown Tony earlier. It was a whip, instead of just one string, there were several, and on each end there was a key.

"Why don't you just kill me? Make it quick?" Tony asked pain evident on his face.

"Why would I do that, when the main purpose of this is to make is slow. And it wouldn't be as fun if it wasn't nice and slow." Caller held up the whip, showing it to Tony. "It's the whips turn, oh, and just to let you know, no camera this time, so you don't have to worry about smiling for it."

"Great." Tony replied, sarcastically.

Tony watched as Caller walked toward him with the whip. He quickly tried to think of a way to talk Caller out of using it on him. Nothing was coming to mind. The only think he could think of is to pretend to be unconscious. It seemed that Caller only did anything to him when he was awake. But doing that would make him have to take a couple hits, which he wasn't looking forward to. He was already weak anyway, so he might not have to pretend, looking at the whip in Callers hand; it probably wouldn't take much to send Toy back into the land of the dark swirls anyway.

Caller walked up to Tony, standing beside him, he lifted the whip, ready to strike, and looked down at the man in the chair. "Ready?" He asked, then not waiting for answer and struck Tony in the chest and abdomen, grinning to himself as the man cried out in pain at the keys cut into his skin. He managed to get 2 more hits in before the man slumped in the chair, apparently unconscious.

"That went too fast." He mumbled, placing the whip back on the table. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He took 3 pictures of Tony; making sure one got a good view of his now bleeding chest, and another of his bruised face. He then quickly sent them to Gibbs phone. He grinned as he thought of how he got them. He had called NCIS earlier and got it out of a secretary there. It had been so simple.

He set the phone on the table, imagining what Gibbs would think when he saw them, and its new form of message. He went over to Tony and whispered into the man's ear, knowing that he couldn't hear his unconscious state. "Don't worry; it will all be over soon." He took one last look that the man then walked out of the warehouse. 'Now all I need is to get Gibbs here, so he can watch his man die.' Were his thoughts, as he walked toward his car, parked beside the warehouse, he was going to get a little sleep, before executing his next plan.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Tony waited until he heard the door shut; He sat up, almost crying out as the pain in his chest intensified at his movements. He did it; he managed to trick Caller into thinking he was unconscious. How he had managed that, he had no idea. He looked around to the room, he didn't get a chance earlier, he noticed that it was slightly darker, signifying that it must be getting late. As he looked around his eyes landed on the table near him. At the very end was a new small lump. It almost looked like a cell phone. 'He forgot it.' He thought, he could tell earlier that Caller had been taking a photo of him earlier; he had heard the key sounds. If he managed to get it he would be able to call Gibbs, and they would be able to trace it. He just needed to get free, he pulled at his hands, causing new pains to shoot up his arms, but he ignored them, he had to do this. He now had a chance to be found, all he needed to do was to move over a few feet, but it would be the longest few feet in his life.


	9. Trace

Jenny? You wanted something? Gibbs said, walking into the director's office.

"Jethro, I'm glad you came so fast." Director Sheppard said, looking up from her computer. "I know that you're trying to find Tony, but I just wanted to know about your case.

Gibbs just stared at Jenny, he didn't want to admit, but he hadn't even thought about the case since Tony was shot. It was as if it all went out the window when Tony collapsed that day.

"Where are you on the case?" Jenny asked again.

"I haven't got any further." 

Jenny sighed, "I suspected you were going to say that." Jenny opened her desk drawer and pulled out a folder, "I know you'll think I had no right, but I'll blow it off this time.... When I was informed that Tony was in the hospital, I had the feeling that you would be more focused on catching the shooter than solving the case." She paused looking to see if Gibbs would say anything, when he didn't she continued. "I looked through everything you had on the case and had a couple things looked into. Barrison, your original suspect, said he was paying off a loan-shark when he heard them planning the murder of the 2 marines, right?

"Yes," Gibbs said, he wasn't happy that Jenny had been looking into his case, but he wasn't going to complain, after all, he did sorta forget about it.

"Well, I thought it would be good to pick up this loan-shark, I had him interrogated and then his story checked. And well, it wasn't what I expected. He didn't kill them. He refused to kill them, which if I'm right, would cause Caller have to do it himself." Jenny handed Gibbs the folder, which he opened and glanced though.

"When did you have time to do all this?"

"Jethro, this is day four, since Tony was shot, I've had time. I interrogated Bat-rouge yesterday."

"Bat-rouge?"

Jenny grinned slightly, "That's what the loan-shark calls himself, I know, not very imaginative."

"So, Caller not only shot and kidnapped my Agent to get revenge on me, he's also a marine killer?"

"From the looks of things, yes." The director glanced to her desk before continuing. "Have you got a lead yet, where he might have him?"

Before Gibbs could answer, he heard his cellphone beep. "Excuse me." He said as he stepped to the side, pulling out his phone. He had a text message from a blocked sender. Wondering if it could be another message from Caller, he opened it, seeing the three pictures of Tony made him gasp in anger.

"That bastard!"

Jenny who had sat back down at her desk turned to him. "What is it?'

"I got another message form Caller, he sent me photos." Gibbs thought a minute at what he said. "A phone message," He turned to Jenny talking fast. "If we're done here, I want to go see Abby, see if she can trace it."

"Go ahead, and Jethro?"

"Yes?'

"You know that there's a chance that Tony will..." Jenny didn't finish, knowing that Gibbs will know what she was saying.

"He better not, or he'll have me to deal with." Gibbs said, walking out.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

"Gibbs!" Abby yelled going up to Gibbs and smacking him lightly on the arm." Why haven't you come down to see me?"

"I've been busy." Gibbs said, as he noticed something different about the room. "Where's your music?"

"I couldn't concentrate with it. I've been going over those 2 tapes, trying to find something I could have missed that could help find Tony, but all I'm getting is a bigger grudge on why I want to do something horrible to Caller for what he's doing to Tony." Abby sighed; looking deep in thought, then turned back to Gibbs, remembering that he must have came for a reason. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, I got another message form caller, on my phone, see if you can trace it." He said handing her his phone. "It's a blocked number," she said, pulling it open and looking at the message, she cringed when she saw the photos, but continued not saying anything about it. "I'll be able to get past it, if Caller has his phone in his name, but I'll only be able to trace if it's on."

"Do it, and keep me posted."

"OK bossman." Abby said, heading to her computer, glad that she finally had something that could help.

Gibbs watched her for a minute, before heading out the door. He hoped she would be able to do it. Scratch that, he _knew_ she would be able to do it; after all, it was Abby he was talking about.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Caller took the last bite of his sandwich; think to himself about his plan to get Gibbs to the warehouse.

He knew that he couldn't grab him; he would probably be barricaded in his office right now anyway, looking for him. He couldn't give up his position; he would bring reinforcements and surround the place. The only way he could think of is to get Gibbs to meet him and drive him here himself. Though with that plan, they might watch, and they would see what type of car he had. No, that wouldn't matter anyway, it's just a cheap rental and you can't trace it like the new cars. The only way Gibbs would meet him is if he threatened Tony's life, which would be easy. He had his plan; he had the where, the how, and the when.

He looked at his watch, reading the time. 5:34AM. He had slept thought the night, getting his much needed rest. He hadn't checked in on Tony yet, but he figured he was just fine, there was no way he was going to get out of his chair. Caller picked up the newspaper that was sitting on the passenger seat and started to read. In an hour and half he would make the call to Gibbs, which would bring the last stage into motion.


	10. Phone Call

Tony tried not to cry out as the ropes dug into his hands, he had been working through the night, hardly getting anywhere and almost passing out many times as he jarred his injuries. He relaxed back in the chair, trying to catch his breath, which was getting harder and harder to get back to normal. Each breath sent shards of glass through his chest, along with everywhere else in his body.

His hands were numb from trying to pull them through the ropes. Though he could slightly feel a few tingles of blood running down them from his wrists where the ropes cut into his skin.  
He was getting worse, that he knew. The nausea and dizziness was worse, and the pain, if it was possible, was intensifying every minute. Even if he did get free, he wouldn't bee able to run, let alone stand properly, to get out of the place.

He shifted his hands behind him, trying to tell where the ropes were on his hands, to see whether they were looser, "Yes," he thought, they were definitely a lot looser., He pulled slightly, the rope didn't quite make it over his hands, but if he pulled hard enough, they might. He braced himself, knowing that is was going to hurt, a lot. He wished silently that is would work. That it would be a waste of time, precious energy, and pain.

Then as hard as he could.

He pulled

Abby sipped on her Caf-Pow, waiting for her computer to tell her that it was tracing Callers cell. She had managed to get passed the block, but now she had to wait for the phone to turn on. She sipped up the last of the cup, then sadly threw it away, sad that it was empty. She looked around the room, not knowing what to do while she waited, and saw another cup of her favorite drink on the other side of the room.

She happily got up and headed for it, to see if it was empty or not, but before when was halfway there….

Gibbs cellphone rang.

McGee hung up the receiver to his phone. He had been calling all the airports in the area, asking about when the airplanes were coming and going. With this information, they might be able to single it down. 1 of the private airports hadn't had any planes come or go the last 2 days. And 2 of them only had a couple, on in the morning and one at night, so it didn't match with how many they had heard in the video. The phone call he just gont done with was the last private airport, they had told him that they were not even open, so they didn't even have any planes to fly. The two community airports were flying all the time, busy as ever.

That left 2 airports, even if it was a small number, it was a large area that Caller could be n. He looked over at Gibbs desk, seeing that he wasn't there, Gibbs would probably be angry if he didn't get this information right away. He pulled out his cellphone, he would just have to call him, it was either that or be yelled at for NOT calling him.

"Hello?" Answered a familiar voice that was defiantly not Gibbs.

"Abby? What are you doing with Gibbs cell?"

"He gave it to me so I can use it to trace to Caller stupid face's phone, which would tell us whre he is."

McGee almost laughed when he heard Abby's nickname for Caller, but caught himself, wondereing what Abby meant. "What? Did caller call? Do you know where he is yet?"

"No, he hasn't turned his phone on," before she could say more Gibbs walked in the door."Gibbs! How did you know to come? Are you using your ESP again to know thaqt McGee was goin to call?"

Gibbs ignored her, talking the phone from her hands."What?"

"Boss, I have it narrowed down to 2 possible airports he could be near."

"Narrow it down to one then."

"I'm trying" McGee said, before Gibbs could hang up.

"Gibbs shut his phone, then turned to Abby, who had been watching him. "Do you have anything yet?"

"Not yet, I'll call you when I do. Or maybe I won't, since you can read my mind and everything." Abby continued, getting back on subject. "Keep your phone, I have everything I need on my trust computer.

Gibbs turned to leave, but heard the voice behind him "But Gibbs! Where's my Caf-Pow?"

Gibbs grinned, not turned his head toward the table where a new cup of her drink was beside the one she saw earlier.

Abby grinned, running over to it and taking a long drink.

--

Tony screamed in pain, as he pulled his hands free of the ropes. He felt himself passing out, but forced himself to hold unto consciousness. His breathing came in harsh gasps, as the pain ran up his arms and grew to make his whole body hurt.

It worked. His hands were free. He slowly brought them to his front, knowing that they would be stiff from being in one position for so long. He pulled at the rope that was wrapped around his chest, thankfully it came loose. Caller must have tied all the rope together in one knot. He must have thought that Tony wouldn't get free. He shifted his legs, testing the ropes around him, ignoring the pain coming up his legs from the movement. He smiled when he felt the ropes fall to his feet.

Now the hard part, going over to the table. 'Maybe if I go quick enough, I'll get the whole way in one try.' Tony braced himself, then he pushed himself toward the table, the moment that his legs took his weight, he crashed to the ground. He let himself lay there, taking notice that something sounded like a wounded dog. Oh, that was coming from him. He fought to control his breathing, trying to push back the enormous pain he was feeling. He didn't want to be weak, why couldn't he just ignore it?

He was so dizzy. Everything was either in 3's or 4's. He looked up to the table and lifted his hand and blindly grabbed for it, when he felt it, the edge met his fingertips. Crap, he would have to lift himself up to reach it. Taking a breath, he started to sit up, searching the end of the table, the moment he felt the phone, he grabbed it, then sank back down to the floor.

He was going to pass out soon, he couldn't hold on forever. So he had to do this quickly, besides the passing out part, he knew Caller could come in any minute. He opened the phone, and tried to focus to see whether it was on or not. All he saw was a very blurry black screen. It must be off. Feeling with his fingers, he felt for the 'end' button, once he thought he had the right one under his thumb, he pressed and held until he heard the soft whim the phone make, signifying that it was turning on. He felt again over the number pad, pressing the numbers to a phone number he knew well. Once he finished, he pressed the send button and brought the phone to his ear, hoping that he got the correct numbers in his dizzy state.

The phone rang.

He heard the most beauty sound that he had heard in what felt like the longest time.

"Yeah, Gibbs."


	11. Why

Gibbs sat down at his desk, speaking to McGee at the same time. "McGee, send Abby the locations to those Airports, she can load it in her computer, it might help track Caller if he calls."

"Already done boss, I sent them to her 5 minutes ago." McGee replied, nose deep in his computer.

"Good." Gibbs said, turning to Ziva, who had not said anything for quite a while, "Have you found anything on places he might be at?"

"No, his family has only owned the house they live in, they never moved, so they don't have an old house. I cannot find anything that could lead us t—"Ziva was interrupted by Gibbs cell ringing.

Gibbs didn't even think to look at the caller ID, he just answered in his usual tone.

"Gibbs." It took a few seconds to hear a reply

"Boss," a familiar, but very weak and hoarse voice answered.

"Tony?" Gibbs asked softly, causing both McGee and Ziva to turn and star at him. McGee grabbed his phone, calling Abby to see if the trace was up, both of them hoping that their teammate on the other end of the line was OK.

"Tony?" Gibbs asked again, His heart clenched, hoping it would be true. It felt forever that he had heard the voice. Though it frightened him to hear how weak it had sounded, even with that one word.

"You coming to get me yet?" Tony slurred, trying to hold on to his fleeting consciousness.

"Were coming, just hold on." Gibbs ordered, at the same time, trying to send him hope.

"Don't think I can...hold on...much longer. Tony sounded frail, which bit into Gibbs heart. He was just about to say something, when he heard a noise in the background.

"Shit." Tony whispered, before going silent. In the background, he heard a second noise, the sound of a door slamming.

"TONY!" Gibbs yelled, but all he got was silence.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Caller looked at the time. It's time." He said out loud. He reached into his pocket, planning to get his cell, but coming up empty. _'What the heck?'_ He thought. He searched his car for a few minutes, not hiding his phone. _'Where the heck could it be'_

Then he remembered setting it on the table in the warehouse. Oh well, he had to check on his guest anyway. He went over to the door, and entered, slamming the door at what he saw.

Tony was crumpled on the floor by the table, phone to his ear. He ran over to see that the man fall unconscious, dropping the phone on the floor by his head. He picked it up, trying to keep himself calm, he could he the frantic cries form Gibbs through the speaker, _Damn, he managed to make a call.' _

"Tony! What is it? Are you OK?" Gibbs yelled, trying to get Tony to answer.

"Well Gibbs, I assume you have traced this, so you probably now know where to find me, I'll give you one hour to get here, or you agent will be dead." He said, hanging up. He was surprised at how calm he managed to keep his voice.

He looked down at the unconscious man, angry that he had ruined his plans. "THIS was NOT the way it was supposed to happen! You ruined my plan!" He screamed, slamming his hands down on the table. He would just have to change them, and quick. He could do that, he already had a idea at what he could do, though most of it he would just have to make up as he went, since he didn't' know 100% what to expect.

H dragged Tony away from the Table, into the middle of the room. He then dragged the char a few feet away from Tony, then got the gun that was in his pocket and sat down. He wasn't happy that Tony had soiled his plans, but he could change what happened now, so he would just have to make due.

_'Come on Gibbs, I'll be ready for you.'_

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

"Damn!" Gibbs said, when Caller had hung up. He turned to McGee who was still intently watching him, Abby still on the phone. "Did Abby get it?" He asked, praying the answer would be yes.

McGee relayed the question to Abby; he listened for a couple seconds then hung up. "She got it; it's about 45 minutes away."

"Let go." Gibbs called, while grabbing his gun and vest, running to the elevator. _'You're going to pay Caller, NOONE hurts my man.' _He thought as he pressed the button for the parking lot.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Caller looked at his watch, 40 minutes had gone by. Any minute he knew that Gibbs would be here. He cocked his gun and straightened in the chair, ready for whatever would happen.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Gibbs, Ziva, McGee, plus two other agents for backup that the director ordered them to take, got out of the car quickly and quietly. How she found out so fast was a wonder to Gibbs. They had got there in record time. They had parked a few hundred feet away, as to not alert Caller at their arrival.

As they approached they warehouse, Gibbs motioned McGee and Ziva to the back, And the other two agents to take the front two corners of the building. He was going to take the front door; he looked in a dirty window near the door and could vaguely make out Caller in the middle of the room, in a chair.

Now that he knew where he was, he was going in. He knew he should wait, till they could secure the place more, but he also knew that Tony couldn't wait. They needed to get this done NOW. With that Going through his mind, he barged in the door, aiming his gun.

"Welcome Gibbs, this isn't really how I wanted us to meet, but we'll make due." Caller said, as Gibbs came in. He had a gun pointed at Tony, who was laying a few feet from the chair, unconscious. Caller looked over at Gibbs, and at the Gun he was holding. "You had better put that Gun down, or Tony here will have 2 gunshot wound to heal from."

"Why are you doing this Caller?" Gibbs asked, cutting to the chase and ignoring Callers order to put the gun down.

"Oh, come on Gibbs, don't you know? This is for the time I had to see MY friend die, all because of you."

"I never hurt your friend Caller, you know that."

"But it was! You were too weak to protect the 2 people you were supposed to. One little his and you were out, leaving us to be tortured and killed. Because of you I had to watch as somebody slowly killed my best friend. I held him in my arms as he took his last breath." Caller paused, taking a breath.

"So I planned a little pay-back. I was set back a couple times in my plan. One, being that stupid loan-shark guy. He wouldn't kill those marines, saying that wasn't his thing or whatever. So I had to do it, making sure it done correctly with no prints. Then it took you so long to find me. If it took any longer I would have had to make an anonymous tip." Caller was looking at Gibbs with pure hatred. Gibbs knew that if he didn't act fast, Caller might do something.

"What I tell you about that gun? Put it down." Caller said, noticing that Gibbs hadn't put it down earlier.

"Caller, let Tony go, he didn't do anything, if you want revenge, take it out on me, not him." Gibbs said, once again ignoring what Caller said about the gun.

Caller didn't seem to notice, or didn't really care that Gibbs didn't put the gun down. "No, Tony didn't do anything, but I'm already doing something to you Gibbs, I'm making you watch as someone you care about suffers. And you care about Tony don't you? You're going to see your agent die Gibbs, you're going to see him struggle to survive, and you going to see him fail, taking his last breath. And then you'll know how it feels, how it picks at your heart every day for the rest of your life."

Caller looked at Gibbs, then back at Tony. "Well, Gibbs, I think that's enough talking, let's get on with it shall we?" Caller smiled a wicked smile, then aimed his gun for Tony's Abdomen, "Get your goodbye ready Gibbs, He won't live for long."

**NCISNCIS**

Outside, about to go in, McGee and Ziva heard a gunshot.


	12. Home

Hey everyone! This is the last chapter!! I'm so happy. Thanks everyone for the great reviews. And I hope that my first story was injoyable to read. I'm hoping to write another one, but I'm not sure when. Well, Thanks.

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Caller looked at Gibbs, then back at Tony. "Well, Gibbs, I think that's enough talking, let's get on with it shall we?" Caller smiled a wicked smile, then aimed his gun for Tony's Abdomen, "Get your goodbye ready Gibbs, He won't live for long."

Gibbs didn't wait, he jumped at Caller, knocking him off the chair, and causing Caller's shot to go wide. Caller was surprised, not knowing what to do for a few seconds. Gibbs took those seconds to grab Callers gun and take out his cuffs, and cuff Caller to the table, securing him, so that he couldn't go anywhere. All this took a total of seven seconds.

Ziva, McGee, and the backup came running in, having heard the gunshot. Gibbs turned to one of the backup agents, "Watch him," He ordered. He rushed over to Tony, Ziva and McGee in tow. "Go see where that ambulance is." He ordered the remaining agent.

He reached out and felt for a pulse on Tony's neck. It was weak and fast. He looked over Tony's body, assessing his condition. He looked horrible. His body was one big bruise. One eye was slightly swollen shut, and he was bleeding from several of his bruises.

Tony started to stir, woken from Gibbs touch. His eyes fluttering as he struggled to regain consciousness. _'No' _Gibbs thought, he should stay unconscious; at least he won't be in pain if he was unconscious.

Tony slowly opened his eyes, searching for whomever, or whatever had woken him. His vision cleared enough to see a face close to his. _'Caller'_ he thought. He started to struggle to get away from him, causing himself more pain. He heard someone calling his name, it sounded familiar somehow. But it was so gentle, not matching what the voice usually sounded like. He instantly stopped struggling, realizing who it was, "Boss." He rasped, surprised at how weak his voice sounded, but he didn't care, Gibbs was here, he would make everything better.

"Hey Tony, Yeah, it's me. We're getting you out of here."

"Hurts."

Gibbs heard the siren in the background. Getting louder as the ambulance pulled up to the warehouse. "Hold on Tony, just a little longer."

Tony's mind wandered, he needed to apologize for getting hurt. He should have paid more attention instead of talking to Ziva at the house. He hoped Gibbs would forgive him.... The pain, it hurt everywhere. Everything was getting bleary again. He knew that he wouldn't stay conscious much longer.

"Sorry." Tony managed to get out, as he lost the battle to stay conscious.

Gibbs looked down at the now unconscious man. The med. team came in, pushing him out of the way. Gibbs watched as the med. team spoke to another, about Tony condition. He phased out, not hearing or seeing everything that was going on around him.

"...breathing..." "...internal bleeding..." "Pulse...weak...."

_'Don't you dare die on me Tony, I don't know what I'll do if I lose you.' _He said to himself, as they carried Tony out to the back of the ambulance. He told McGee and Ziva that one of them should go with them, so Tony wouldn't be alone.

Everything was still in a blear, as the ambulance drove off with his wounded agent. He noticed that someone was speaking to him, bringing him back into focus with the world.

"...like me to do with Caller?" The agent he assigned to watch Caller was asking him.

"Take him in; he has a lot of charges against him." He walked over and knelt before Caller, staring him in the eyes.

"Why didn't you just kill me? You had the chance." Caller asked, knowing that he was now defeated.

"Because, I'm not going to let you off easy, you are going to pay the price for what you've done." Gibbs answered, keeping his voice neutral, which at the moment was harder than he expected.

"So you're going to do the same as me, and get revenge."

"Who said anything about me doing anything? It will be the law, it's hard enough on people who hurt federal agents and kill marines." Gibbs said, standing up and walking out of the warehouse. McGee followed, leaving the other two to take care of Caller. Right now, they were going to the hospital, to see how Tony was doing.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

"Are you agent Gibbs?" A doctor asked when he walked up to the group sitting in the waiting room. He was looking at McGee, who was sitting by Ziva and Abby, Gibbs was pacing back and forth in front of them.

"I am." Gibbs said, stopping in front of the doctor, "How is he?"

"I'm Doctor Wayne; I'll be Tony's doctor during his recovery. Tony is stable for the moment, though we'll keep a close eye on him during the night. He has three broken ribs, his back is thrown out, he has cuts and abrasions all over his chest, back and abdomen, and he has a swollen knee cap. He has an infection in his previous injury, causing him to have a fever. We have him on antibiotics and a nasal cannula to help his breathing. It's just a precaution, and it will help his body so it can focus on healing his other injuries. It will take some time, but he should be able to make a full recovery."

Gibbs gave a sigh of relief. He's going to be OK.

Abby stood up bedside him, looking up at the doctor, "Can we see him?"

"He's resting right now, so only for a few minutes. I'll allow two of you at a time. If one of you wishes to stay with him throughout the night, I guess I can allow that." Doctor Wayne answered. Looking at the expressions held by all four of the people in front of him, he could tell that they really cared about their friend. He had added that one could stay through the night, knowing that it would be greatly appreciated. As long as they didn't get in the way, it wouldn't be a big deal.

Gibbs a nod of thanks to the doctor, before the man turned to go back to his work. "Ziva, McGee you two go in first." Abby looked at Gibbs slightly shocked that he wasn't going to let her in first. "I'm going to let you stay the night Abbs, don't worry." He nodded at Ziva and McGee; they both started walking toward Tony's room to visit their friend.

"Really, I can spend the night? I thought you would want to."

"I do, but I need to finish things with the case on Caller. I'll be back in the morning."

"Oh." Abby went silent, obviously thinking about other things. "I'm glad we got him back Gibbs, I was so worried. But you made everything better. Thanks Gibbs, for getting Tony back for me."

"It wasn't just me Abbs, you know that, and I wanted him back too." Abby just nodded, not wanting to say anything.

McGee and Ziva came back, they're few minutes up. Gibbs wrapped an arm about Abby's shoulders, as both of them headed for Tony's room.

Gibbs gasped the same time as Abby. Seeing Tony in that bed made his heart wrench, for he didn't times in so few days. Tony was so pale, almost as white as the sheets he lay upon. The colorful bruises the only color on his skin. He took the seat beside the bed, Abby taking the one beside him. He took Tony's limp hand in his, careful of the IV and heart monitor.

"Get better Tony, that's an order." He whispered to Tony's still form. Gibbs and Abby sat there, not saying anything. After a few minutes, knowing his time was up he got up. He patted Abby on the shoulder; she looked up, giving him a smile, before he left.

Tony was back and finally safe. He had a lot of healing ahead of him, but he was strong, and Gibbs would help him. He himself had some healing to do. Together, he knew that they would be able to do it.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

Gibbs sat in the very uncomfortable chair beside Tony's bed. They had to have made these chairs uncomfortable on purpose. They must _not_ want people to stay for long.

He had come in early his morning to relieve Abby so she could get some rest. He had gone to the office yesterday to clear everything up with Caller. With everything he had done, he was definitely doing to prison for a long time.

Since Abby was going back to the office, she was going to be analyzing the Gun that caller had, though he just knew it would be the gun that killed the marines.

Tony hadn't wakened up yet, though the doctor said it was normal, especially with all he had went through. Looking at Tony now, looking so Vulnerable in that hospital bed seemed so wrong. Tony didn't deserve this. _He_ should be in that hospital bed, _not _Tony.

He noticed slight movement from the bed, making him turn all his attention to the man lying on the bed. _'He's waking up'_ he reached over a laid a hand on Tony's arm, as the man was waking up.

"Hey DiNozzo." He said, when he saw the crack of his eyes.

Tony turned his head toward the sound, letting his eyes wander till they stopped on Gibbs. "Boss...you saved me." His voice was raspy; he coughed lightly, from his dry, scratchy throat.

Gibbs reached for the water pitcher beside the hospital bed, pouring a cup for Tony. After a few sips, he placed it back on the table.

"Of course I saved you; I wasn't going to leave you there." Gibbs spoke softly, not wanting to be too loud. "How do you feel?"

"I'm OK."

"No Tony, you're not. Tell the truth, how do you feel?"

Tony looked at Gibbs for a sec, about to say the same lie, and then decided that there was no use in lying. "It hurts a little."

Gibbs got up quickly, and stepped outside the door for a sec, then came back in, to resume his seat beside the bed. "Someone will be in to give you something."

"I'm sorry boss." Tony said, changing the subject.

"Sorry for what?" Usually Gibbs would tell Tony that saying sorry was a sign of weakness, but not today, not after what they had gone through.

"For getting hurt and not paying attention."

"You have NOTHING to say sorry for Tony, you did nothing wrong."

"But-"

"NO, I told you, you do not have anything that you could be sorry for, if anything, I should be sorry. My past should not have been thrown in your life."

The doctor entering the room interrupted their conversation. "How are you feeling Mr...Agent DiNozzo?" He asked walking up to his bed.

"I've been better." Tony answered looking at the man as he put pain reliever in his IV.

"You'll be feeling better in a few minutes." He looked at Gibbs, who was watching him intently. "I would like to check Tony's bandages; would you step out for a few minutes, so he could have some privacy?"

"Sure." Gibbs reached over and patted Tony on the shoulder. "I'll be back." 

After he left the doctor pulled out a penlight, checking Tony's pupils.

"Do you have to do that?"

"Sorry, but yes I do, anyway, it's for your benefit." He put the pen light away, pulling the blanket down to check Tony's bandage on his gun wound. "So, if you don't mind me asking, but your boss, was he a marine at one point?"

"Yeah, he was. How'd you know?"

Doctor Wayne smiled. "I guess it's because I was one too." 

"Really?"

"Yep, at one point I was Sgt. Jesse Wayne. I became a doctor after that, as you can see. My second love."

"Yeah, a doctor who enjoys shining lights in their patients eyes." Tony said, grinning slightly. He was getting tired, from being awake so long. His eyes were drooping, getting harder to stay open.

"Get some rest; you have a lot of healing ahead of you." Doctor Wayne said, he finished checking Tony's bandage, and then quietly left. As he closed the door behind him he saw Agent Gibbs down the hall getting a cup of coffee. He smiled, He may be Tony's boss, but he could tell that their relationship was stronger than that.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

"TONY! You're awake!" Abby cried when she saw Tony talking softly with Ziva and McGee. She ran over and gave him a hug, followed by a kiss on the forehead, then a small smack on the arm.

"Abby! Don't hit Tony." Gibbs ordered, walking in with a fresh cup of coffee.

"Gibbs, I was just going to tell him that if he ever did this to me again, then I would never speak to him for the rest of his life. He's already done it twice now." 

"Sorry Abbs, but technically this only counts as once, since it was from the same person." Tony said, grabbing Abby's hand and pulling her closer.

"Tony! How could you say something like that?" Abby yelled, pulling her hand away, about to smack him again, then thought better of it.

"So," Tony started, looking around at the room of people who cared about him. "Who's going to spring me?"

"You're not going anywhere DiNozzo, until you're a hundred percent."

"But Boss, I feel better already. Give me one more day tops, and I'll be right as rain."

"Nope."

"But-"

"I said NO DiNozzo."

Tony sulked down in his pillow, defeated in the topic. He grinned, looking up suddenly, "Then can I at least get some decent food? This hospital stuff is grouse. How about a nice pizza with pepperoni, sausage, and extra cheese?"

Everyone smiled, their Tony was defiantly back.

The End-

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Thanks again! And please review on the ending, good or bad, it's always great to recieve them. :) :)


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